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Proposed FCC Regulations May Raise Concerns about Internet Freedom

Today, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski announced that the Commission will issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to examine the possibility of new regulations to ensure open access to the internet. The proposed rules will examine the issue of “net neutrality,” codifying and expanding existing policies on internet regulations.

“The proposed rules raise significant questions about the future development of the internet and the continued deployment of broadband networks,” said Wayne Brough, chief economist at FreedomWorks. “In essence, new rules could give the FCC the authority to regulate the internet.”

Not only will the FCC’s notice of proposed rulemaking strengthen the government’s control over the internet, but the rulemaking raises the possibility of expanding the regulations to cover the emerging wireless networks, a dynamic and competitive sector of the market that has provided consumers expanded services and falling prices. New mandates could limit this growth and reduce consumer welfare.

“Consumers should be concerned about the addition of new regulations that could reshape the internet,” said Brough. “There have been few incidents of problems in the past, and the FCC has ample authority to address any problems on a case-by-case basis should they emerge. To promote continued expansion of the internet, it is important to encourage capital investment and increased competition. Net neutrality regulations do neither.

“Net neutrality boils down to a classic debate over how investment will be determined—by the market or by regulators. Time and again, the market has proved a more efficient way to allocate resources, deliver services, and promote the innovation required to create the next generation of technology. As the internet matures and new content and applications require new functionality, we want to be sure that stifling regulations do not deter the expansion of the networks required to bring these services to consumers.”

FreedomWorks will be active in this rulemaking process, and encourage our activists nationwide to make their voices heard in this important debate over the future of the internet.

Last Thursday the Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 to regulate broadband internet as a public utility. This decision to regulate the internet was made mostly through secret meetings without public comment and less than a decade after the FCC declined to regulate the internet because there was no necessity. Even worse, because the 300-plus page new rule has not been made public yet, we still do not know exactly what is in the rule. Since the Federal Trade Commission already has the authority to protect consumers from anticompetitive business practices, the FCC’s new rules are another example of government trying to fix a problem that is nonexistent. The new rules may in fact harm consumers both by limiting competition, and by preventing the FTC from filing charges against internet providers once they are determined to be common carriers.

The FCC’s recent decision to reclassify the internet as a utility is ruffling some feathers, but not the ones you might expect. The Federal Communications Commission, acting under orders from the president, has been largely successful in representing its decision as a matter of Net Neutrality, of regulating the specific ways in which service providers can manage bandwidth.

Today, the Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 in favor of a controversial proposal to regulate the internet as a public utility, similar to telephone calls. The vote came as expected, down party lines with the three Democrats supporting and the two Republicans opposed. The decision is no surprise, but it leaves us with two questions that need to be answered: What does this mean, and where do we go from here?

On February 26th, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), acting under the direction of President Obama, will vote on a 300-plus-page rule regulate the internet in much the same way it currently regulates utilities. The FCC’s new powers will be broad, and mark an end to the decades of unregulated internet service that has proven to be the greatest source of economic growth and innovation the world has ever seen. That the Commission will vote to pass the rule is all but a certainty.

February is going to be a big month for Net Neutrality. Following a public request by the president, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler announced that he will circulate a new rule on February 5th among the five FCC chairmen. The Commission will then hold a vote on whether to release the rule on February 26th.

We all know that Congress has some big ticket items on its agenda for next year - repealing ObamaCare, balancing the budget, reining the president’s executive authority, but receiving less attention than perhaps they should are a number of smaller regulatory battles in which the new Republican majority could make a real difference.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), spurred on by impassioned words from President Obama, is itching to enact stricter internet regulations next year. But there is a growing resistance among Republican lawmakers that could stop the agency in its tracks.

A turf war among regulators may be shaping up in the battle over Net Neutrality. A group of 32 academics, who oppose Net Neutrality on free market grounds, are asking that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) weigh in on the debate. The letter argues that the FTC already has the authority to deal with anticompetitive behavior, and that the agency should say as much.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is requesting an increase of $1.5 billion for its E-Rate program, citing the need for improved internet connectivity in public schools. This would represent a 62 percent increase in current spending.

Mike O’Rielly, a commissioner at the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), is arguing that President Obama’s new proposal on Net Neutrality will result in an immediate tax on internet service providers (ISPs), which will then be passed on to consumers and result in across the board higher prices. The statement issued by the president contains no language pertaining to anything like a tax, though, so what’s he talking about?